By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
July 18, 2003
PHILADELPHIA The Philadelphia Nationals and cross-town rival Westside went about notching wins in the third day of competition at the Dixie Youth District Four Major League Tournament for 11-12-years-olds in very different fashions on Thursday.
Philadelphia eliminated West Lauderdale 3-0 in the first game at Northside Park relying on the strong arms of three pitchers, while Westside slugged its way to an 11-6 victory over East Mississippi.
Dustin Floyd, Caleb McKee and Joel McKee teamed up on the mound to pitch a one-hitter against West Lauderdale.
The impressive pitching performance, that included nine strike outs by the trio, didn't get off to the best of starts.
Floyd walked the first two batters he faced in the first inning before striking out the next three. He went on to strike out one more batter in the top of the second before giving way to Caleb McKee.
Philadelphia's second pitcher gave up the staff's lone hit in the fourth inning, as West Lauderdale's Cody Miller legged out an infield single.
Caleb McKee struck out three batters in two innings of work before Philadelphia rotated its pitching battery in the top of the fifth.
Joel McKee, who played catcher for the first four innings, took the mound in the top of the fifth, and Floyd took over the catching duties.
Philadelphia's third pitcher of the game retired the six batters he faced in order, including striking out the last two.
Philadelphia's offense took a little longer to come around than its pitching.
The team stranded five runners in the opening two innings before getting on the scoreboard in the third with a sacrifice fly from Tyler Dove with the bases loaded for the first run of the game.
Floyd followed the sac-fly with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
Philadelphia added an insurance run in the fifth inning scoring on a West Lauderdale error.
Westside's offense didn't take anytime to warm up, contrary to its cross-town counterparts.
After falling behind 3-0 to East Mississippi in the top half of the first inning thanks to a three-run homer over the centerfield fence by Kevin Roberts, Westside notched five runs on five hits and one error in the bottom half of the first.
Westside put another five spot on the board in the second inning on two hits and one error for a commanding 10-3 advantage.
Kevin Boyd led Westside's offensive attack notching three RBIs on a single and double in the opening two innings. He finished the game going 3-for-3.
Westside's Michael Finley went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and John Wesley, Tommie Warren, Michael Rush each had RBI hits in the win.
Finley picked up the win for Westside allowing three runs in three innings on four hits, with three strike outs.
Westside and East Mississippi will meet again at 6 p.m. today in a play-in game for the championship round, against Philadelphia. The winner will advance to play Philadelphia at 7 p.m. Saturday.